Acando supports the BGW with the introduction of agile project management

Agile project management in the public sector

(PresseBox) (Hamburg, 30.06.2015)With the support of management and IT consulting firm Acando, the Employers' Liability Insurance Association for Healthcare and Welfare Services [Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege (BGW)] completed the relaunch of the www.bgw-online.de web platform using agile development methods. In the scope of a coaching session, Acando provided the project team with rapid instruction on how to use the advantages offered by Scrum for the project.

The BGW is the legal provider of accident insurance for non-governmental organisations in the area of healthcare and welfare services in Germany. With 7.7 million insured persons in more than 620,000 companies, it is one of the biggest employer's liability insurance associations in Germany. In addition to the provision of insurance services, the key tasks of the employer's liability insurance association also include the provision of training to ensure the prevention of damage events. In this context, the internet site www.bgw-online.de constitutes the central online channel for the communications with all of the members of the BGW.

In the scope of the relaunch of the platform, the goal was to increase the efficiency of the project team with the use of an agile project management system based on Scrum. The Acando consultants trained the team in organising themselves independently, in optimising their communications, and in ascertaining problems during the processes at an early stage in order to thereby contribute to the project's success. In addition to the initial touchdown, the coaching also included the procedure methodology, the accompanying of the sprints and the daily meetings. In this way, the basis was created for a successful use of the agile development methods.

"It isn't the method that creates the success but the people who use it. It was important for us to give our employees the opportunity to get to know the new agile development approaches under professional guidance," highlights Viktoria Brest, Applications Development Manager at BGW, before summing up: "The organisation and completion of the development according to the agile methods has made a major contribution to increasing the efficiency and quality in the team."

“It was very important to us that we didn't view a method like Scrum to be just another training session, but we were able to select and implement its beneficial elements with a sound degree of judgement," adds Helene Renn, Project Manager at BGW. "Thanks to the support provided by Acando, we were able to do this. We feel well equipped for being able to implement additional projects with this method in the future."

"Projects are different and every organisation has its culture. We believe in orienting the project management to the individual circumstances. Acando has wide-ranging experience with the use of classic, agile and hybrid methods. The project at the BGW has shown how easy it can be to achieve effective results in a team with the right coaching," highlights Peter Ostrop, member of the Acando GmbH executive team.